Breaker strip construction



B. c. JOHNSON I BREAKER sTRIi' CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 18, 1944 Oct. 28, 1947.

Bernard CfJoknsan Patented Oct. 28,1947.

- UNITED STATES PATENT orrica i I zazas e I Application September 18, 1944, Serial No. 554,609

1 Claim. (01. 2209) This invention relates to cabinet constructions wherein liners are maintained in insulated butsealed relationship with outside cabinet walls.

Specifically the invention deals with breaker strip constructions for refrigerator cabinets.

The invention will be hereinafter specifically described as embodied in a refrigerator cabinet, but it should be understood that the principles of the invention are applicable to all constructions involvingspaced walls to be maintained in insulated but sealed relationship.

According to this invention, a refrigerator cabinet having a dooropening in the front wall thereof-receives, through this front wall, one or more open front casings forming the liner or liners for the cabinet. These casings, like the cabinet walls, are formed of metal butv are spaced from the cabinet walls. As is customary, the space between the liner casing and the cabinet wall is filled with insulation.

Breaker strips composed of metal, plastic, wood, or any desired material, connect the open front of the casing or front wall of the liner with the cabinet around the door opening thereof. In accordance with this invention, the breaker strip is maintained in sealed, insulated relation with the casings or liners bymeans of an inexpensive, simple, and readily applied extruded rubber or rubber-like sealing strip. a

The mouth of each casing has forwardly projecting peripheral edges that readily receive the sealing strip thereon. The casing is also preferably equipped with an inwardly projecting abutment .wall adjacent the inlet mouth for bottoming the sealing strip.

The breaker strips, which can be in several ieces or in one molded piece, are secured to the front wall of the cabinet sealing strip in sealing relation therewith, but spaced from the liner wall. Thus the sealing strip relationship with the casing or liner and, if desired, the breaker strip can be composed of a heat-conducting material, since the non-heat conducting sealing strip will prevent heat conduction from the liner to the cabinetwalls.

, It is, then, an object of this invention to provide a simplified, inexpensive,.and easily assembled breaker strip and sealing strip assembly for refrigerator cabinets.

Another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement for sealingly connecting spaced walls in insulated relationship.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a breaker strip construction which makes I a refrigerator and are bottomed on the maintains the breaker strip in sealed insulated I possible the use of heat-conducting breaker strips without sacrificing insulating efilciency.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sealing strip arrangement for the liners of refrigerators which will cooperate with breaker strips to maintain the liners in sealed but insulated relation with the refrigerator cabinet walls.

A specific .object of the invention is to provide cabinet with metal casing inserts defining the space to be refrigerated wherein the casing inserts have forwardly projecting peripheral edges receiving a rubber or rubber-like sealing strip, and wherein the cabinet breaker strip is bottomed on this sealing strip.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the annexed sheet of drawings which,'by way of preferred example only, illustrates one embodiment of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary front elevational view ofa refrigerator cabinet equipped with a breaker strip construction according to this invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line 11-11 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectionalview taken along the line IIIIII of Figure 1. v v

Figure 4 is a broken side elevational view, with parts invertical cross section,',of a cabinet liner casing for the cabinet of Figure 1 illustrating a molded one-piece breaker strip and seal strip arrangement according to this invention.

Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse cross-sem- 31211841 view of the. sealing strip shown in Figures As shown on the drawings:

In Figurel, the reference numeral l0 designates generally a refrigerator cabinet having a front wall Illa with a door opening ll therein. The cabinet ID has side, top, and back walls. Liner casings l2 and I3 are inserted in the door opening I l in spaced superimposed relation. Each casing has top, bottom, and side walls and has -an open front end registering with the door opening II.

The casings l2. and I3 are mounted in spaced relationship from the walls of the cabinet III. The casing l2 defines a general food compartment for the cabinet, while the casing l3 defines a deepfreeze compartment for the cabinet. The compartment I2 is closed by means of a door It hinged on the cabinet by means of hinges l5, while the deep-freeze compartment is closed by a when the doors are closed.

door I8 hinged on the cabinet by means of'hinges I walls adapted to project into the door opening As shown in Figures 2 and 3, insulation I fills the space between the casing walls and the cabinet walls.

As shown in Figure 2, the casing I: has a forwardly projecting front edge portion |2a extending around the periphery thereof at the front of the casing, and this portion receives a rubber sealing strip 20 thereon. The rubber sealing strip 20, as best shown in Figure 5, has a flat wall 20a along one side thereof 'and an arcuate wall 20b extending around the remainder of the strip to the back wall 200. A groove 20d extends into the strip from the back wall 200 for an appreciable distance to receive the peripheral edge i2a of the casing l2.

The strip has a hollow portion 20c on one side of the groove 28d to provide a resiliently deformable cushion wall portion 20b.

The casing l2 has a U-shaped metal angle strip 2| riveted thereto by means of rivets 22 around the top and side walls thereof. One leg 2Ia of. the strip 2| extends inwardly from the casing wall adjacent the edge portion l2a thereof to form an abutment.

As shown in Figure 3, the bottom wall of the casing l2 has a raised bead 23 thereon providing an. abutment wall 23a adjacent the portion i2a of the casing. A

The front wall Illa of the cabinet is spaced from the projecting edge l2a of the casing around the sides and top of the casing, and breaker strips 24 bridge this space. These breaker strips 24, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, have flat flange portions 24a overlying the front wall Illa of the cabinet and secured thereto by means of screws 25. The breaker strips 24 have inwardly projecting sloping flanges 24b extending from the flanges 24a across the space between the cabinetwall Illa and the front edge I2a of the casin l2 into closely spaced relation with the leg 2Ia of the metal angle strip 2i. These flanges 24b of the breaker strips 24,however, rest on the cushioned face portion 20b of the sealing strip 20 .in sealing engagement therewith; Thus the top and side walls of the casing l2 are connected in sealed but insulated relation with the front wall Illa of the cabinet.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the bottom casing l3 has a forwardly projecting front edge portion l3a bottomed around the top andsides of the casing by the leg 2Ia of an angle strip 2|, and by an abutment wall 23a of a bead 23 in the same manner as the casing l2. A, second sealing strip 20 is seated on this projecting front edge portion 4 casing 12 as shown in Figure 3. In other words, the molded breaker piece 28 forms the breaker strip for the bottom wall of the casing l2, and has a flange portion forming a front wall for the cabinet between the casing openings.

The breaker piece 28 has 'an inwardly sloping peripheral flange 28d extending inwardly from the inner ends of the flanges 28a and 26b into sealing engagement with the cushioned portion 20b of the sealing strip 20, but terminating in spaced relation from the flange Ma and the wall 23a. This flange 28d can have an arcuately shaped portion 28c asshown in Figure 4, to better receive a greater area of the curved portion 20b of the sealing strip. I

The casing II is made of two riveted-together stamped metal pans having'mating flanges l8b, 13b connected by rivets 21.

In order ,to cool the interior of the casing l3,

the same can have refrigerant duct-defining plates 28 integrally secured to the top and bottom Ba, and is bottomed on the leg 2la of the angle strip-2|, and on the wall 23a of the head 23, all as described in connection with the casing l2. However; a' different type of breaker piece 26 is used. This breaker piece 26 is a molded plastic walls thereof. The ducts in the top plate 28 can receive refrigerant from a tube 29, while the ducts in the bottom plate 28 can receive refrigerant from ducts in the top plate through a connecting necting the front wall Ilia of the cabinet withthe sealing strip around the entire periphery of the casing l3, as well as with the sealing strip on the bottom wall of the casing l2, it should be understood that other breaker strip arrangements can be used without in any way departing from the scope of this invention. Two different strip arrangements have been selected to merely illustrate that the breaker strips can be separate straight pieces abutted together in the corners around the door opening, or can be of onepiece molded construction around the entire doorway.

The flanges 24b of the breaker strips 24 and the flanges 26c and 26d of the breaker piece 26 are sloped to receive the sloped marginal walls Nb and l6b of the doors l4 and iii in closely spaced relation. As is customary in refrigerator cabinet constructions. door sealing strips can be provided on the flanges Ma and Mia of the doors for engaging the front wall Ilia of the cabinet around the door opening I I of the cabinet.

The beaded portions 23 of the casings l2 and I3 are provided to form the abutment for the sealing strips 20 in place of the strip 2| along the bottoms of the casings l2 and I3, so that the bottom wall of the casing will have an integral dam preventing drainage of liquids out of the open front of the casing, as when the easing is being defrosted.

From the above descriptions it will be understood that the invention provides a simplified breaker strip construction embodying an inexpensive, easily assembled rubber or rubber-like sealing strip. This sealing strip can be cheaply extruded, and is readily replaceable. Since it not only forms a seal, but also is composed of non-heat-conducting material, the breaker strips can, if desired, be made of heat-conducting masaid outer casing, means terlal such as metal without sacrificing insulating eificiency of the refrigerator cabinet. However, molded plastic strips or pieces are ,It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the. patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope or the appended claim.

I claim as my invention: I

A refrigerant breaker strip construction comprising an outer casing having a portion defining'a doorway, an inner casing in said outer casing having-an open front defined by walls projecting toward said doorway but spaced from providing an abutment preferred.

' to said abutment and in sealing engagement with projecting inwardly from the walls inside said inner casing and comprising angular flanges with at least one. leg thereof attached to said inner casing walls and the other leg projecting therefrom, aresilientl'y flexible sealing strip having a groove for receiving edge portions of the walls of said inner casing, said strip being bottomed on a leg of said flanged abutment and providing a cushion around inner casing, and a breaker strip having an the mouth of the.

outer flange portion secured to said outer casing and an inwardly projecting flange portion extending from said outer flange portion across a space to said inner casing in spaced relation said sealing strip so as to maintain the inner andouter casings .in sealed but insulated relation at said doorway and between said breaker strip and the edge portions of the inner casing walls.

BERNARD C. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES 0mm The following references we of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,733,758 Sealey Oct. 29, 1929 2,100,811 Marshall Nov. 30, 1937 2,149,807 Collins Mar. 7, 1939 2,195,500 Schweller Apr. 2, 1940 2,205,778 Forsthoefel June 25, 1940 2,240,916 Springford et a1 May 6. 1941 2,247,949 Kucher July 1, 1941 2,263,831 Welch Nov. 25, 1941 2,301,020 Dailey -1--- Nov. 3, 1942 2,329,752 Goulooze Sept. 21,1943

Drake. May 9, 1944 

